A New World
by The Mad Mystic
Summary: A tale of two heroes, neither what Skyrim wants, but probably what it needs. After all, if one hero can save the world, two can do so much more. Semi-SI
1. Chapter 1

"What are we going to do?" 

The question was not panicky, but filled with a sort of curiosity, not what someone else in his position would be feeling. Fortunately, he was not a normal person who would fall to pieces in such a situation.

"You know more of this world than me, so what do you suggest?"

The second question was voiced by a calmer person, but laced with the same level of curiosity, despite the flatter voice.

"Well, you would probably love to learn magic, I mean, who wouldn't?" The first voice laughed, seemingly amused by the idea. "I could learn it myself, you know how I love magic."

"We are in the ideal setting for you to try out your intended fighting style, as well. I remember something about a fighting guild, but the Fighter's Guild is dead by this time, isn't it?"

"No, no, they just don't exist in Skyrim. The Mage's Guild is the one that died off, as well as the majority of the Thieves' Guild, besides the Riften Branch, and maybe some other isolated branch. Dark Brotherhood is pretty weakened too, but that is…" The voice trailed off, the tone straining at the end. Obviously, he was not a fan.

"That's fine, we can deal with them in time, if necessary. For now, I'd rather just get out of the cold. I thought Dunmer were supposed to be weak to the cold, not Bretons." The Breton spoke, not at all enjoying the weather, it seemed.

"Not that I am aware. Dunmer are just resistant to fire. Besides, it's me we are talking about. Cold is my favorite temperature." The Dunmer laughed. "But we do need shelter…"

"Are you able to tell which way we need to go, then?" The two were surrounded by a thick forest, covered in snow.

"Well, the forest reminds me of Falkreath's region, but this thick snow either means we are in winter, or on a mountain. This body doesn't have any trouble breathing, but that tells us nothing. Either way, best way to go is north. If we hit a mountain, it's the Throat of the World. If we see a lake, we are near Falkreath. Just need to find a familiar location."

"With how many hours you poured into this world, that should be simple." The breton commented.

"True, but the difference between game-graphics and real sights is… difficult to adjust to." The dunmer frowned, glancing around. "I'm going to try climbing a tree, see if that helps."

"They are tall enough, but be careful. That body is still new to you." The Breton just did not want to touch the cold trees, not with his friend so eager to do so. It was also true he would be less likely to recognize any iconic geography that his friend would.

A few minutes after the Dunmer disappeared into the trees, the Breton heard the faint sound of crunching snow, immediately tensing his body in preparation. Despite having only arrived less than an hour ago, the two had already had to fight a pack of wolves off. It would have been more difficult if the two were actually of this world, he thought.

Instead of wolves, however, an old female walked towards him, though he did not relax. Skyrim was a dangerous place, after all.

"Are you alright? I heard howling in this direction." The woman said, though she was hardly what he would consider a threat, despite her height.

"We were attacked by a pack of wolves. No injuries, but we could use directions." The Breton said.

"We?" Right as the female Nord asked, the Dunmer slid down the tree, falling directly into the snow, before standing back up. "Oh. Well, you are about a kilometer north of Helgen. I take it you got lost?"

The Dunmer and Breton duo glanced at each other for a moment, before the Dunmer nodded. "Basically. One wrong turn, and suddenly we end up in the middle of nowhere." Not a lie, but at least less likely to be considered insane than outright stating they came from another world. Well, maybe if she were a mage…

"Aye, these lands can be confusing to newcomers. Where were you headed, then? I can give directions at least." She paused. "Ah, I forget myself. I am Matlara, of Helgen." It was only fair they gave their names, then.

"I'm-" The Breton was interrupted by the Dunmer, who suddenly exclaimed "Breyvus!" The two stared at each other again, the Breton raising his eyebrow, and the Dunmer merely grinning.

The Dunmer turned back to the woman, before speaking. "And you can just call me… Kuro Hoshi" The Breton chuckled, but shook his head. The woman seemed to have no idea of what the two were thinking, but nodded nonetheless. "And actually, we should stop by Helgen for supplies, if you are heading there. Once we get back on the road, I can navigate from there."

"Sure, I think Ingrid would love some customers, what with the war going on." Maltara smiled.

"War?" Breyvus seemed to pause. "Oh, right. Sorry, I'm a bit behind with current events."

"Many foreigners are, it seems. I suppose every province has its own problems right now." Matlara frowned. "These are difficult times, but that's why we have to rely on each other."

"A sense of honor is a good thing for a culture to agree on." Breyvus spoke. "Keeps people from betraying each other over slight grievances."

"If only" Kuro muttered, though Matlara purposefully ignored it.

"It's something all Nords strive to live up to, and it kept us alive this long, don't see why it should change now." Matlara seemed irritated by something, probably seeing the war as a breaking of honor rather than a difference in ideals.

Breyvus eyed Kuro, who only shrugged helplessly. He had hoped Kuro would explain more about Nord Culture, but it seemed he was unwilling with Matlara here.

The trio remained in silence for the rest of the journey, which only took about half an hour, mostly because Matlara had been hunting, and thus, had to bring her quarry back.

"Matlara, you almost missed the execution! Come on, hurry up." Another female nord ran up to Matlara, not even questioning who she was bringing along.

"Execution?" Breyvus and Kuro shared a glance, before Kuro smiled grimly.

"You didn't know? Ulfric Stormcloak has been captured! It only happened recently, but they rushed the event so that no one could interrupt. That's why we have so much security." Ingrid explained, still moving through the streets towards a particularly large tower.

Breyvus glanced around, having noticed the Imperial soldiers staring in his direction since he entered the village. They seemed less concerned of Kuro, but that was likely some racial difference.

Eventually, the group stopped on a porch, opposite an execution platform. One Stormcloak had already been executed, judging from the stains. Breyvus glanced at the line leading to the platform, full of prisoners, all wearing blue fur armor. Stormcloaks, obviously, but their leader was towards the back.

Well that was just a terrible decision. Or a sadistic one. Either they wanted Ulfric to see all his men die before they killed him, or the person who set this up was an idiot. Ulfric dying should have been priority. His eyes trailed the others, standing nearby. A high ranking general, judging from the armor, stood next to a rather tall, golden figure, wearing robes. Ah, Thalmor. Well, from what he knew they were both idiotic enough and sadistic enough to set this up.

Whether or not Kuro was thinking along the same lines was unknown, but from his deep frown and glare, both aimed at the High Elf, Breyvus had a feeling it did not matter. That was fine, they both knew what was about to happen.

It was only a few minutes, and only one execution in, when the dragon showed up, roared and disrupting not just the execution, but the entire village's activities. Meteors began to rain from the sky, and Breyvus began to follow Kuro away from the epicenter. He was sure Kuro knew this place better than him, even if he could recall the path. Besides, it was best to stick together, or at least know where the other was. Granted, if Kuro lived up to his name, he would be very easy to track in the future.

The two split up to enter different sides of the keep, with Breyvus going in the tower entrance. Inside, he saw an imperial soldier, panting and resting. He had seen the others fleeing, but this one seemed as if he had been left behind, or gotten lost somehow. "Hold there." The Imperial stared at him for a moment. "You were watching the execution. Ah, just a villager, or traveller. Well, it doesn't matter. There is supposed to be an exit somewhere in here, so if you want protection while leaving, stick with me. In the meantime… Do you have any martial training? I could use help, I think. I saw Stormcloaks enter from the other side."

"I have some." Breyvus mused. Kuro had been more than eager to test out his new body, but by comparison, his own was much closer to his previous, albeit certainly stronger. Probably a side effect of being from this world, Kuro had guessed before. Even so, he was certainly no novice with a weapon, or without. He glanced at the imperial sword on the wall that the Imperial soldier waved towards, before frowning. Not his ideal weapon, but it would help. "Similar to a gladius. Alright. This will be fine."

"I'm Hadvar by the way."

Breyvus nodded to the Imperial. "I'm… Breyvus." It would take a bit of time to get used to that, but it was for the best.

"Well met. Though, could be in better circumstances. Are you ready to move?" At his nod, Hadvar stood and moved to the gate, pulling the chain to open it. "Stay behind, but close."

Breyvus frowned at the terrible advice, but nodded anyway. No need to point out it was suicidal, since this was likely a trained soldier.

In less than a minute, they ran into two people. One was Kuro, grinning happily as he twirled a greatsword with his right hand. Oh god, he was really going to do it… "Hey Breyvus, Hadvar."

"How do you know his/my name?" Both the Stormcloak and Imperial asked, glaring at each other, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"I have good hearing" Kuro lied. Breyvus had no doubt he just remembered the game well enough.

"If you two want to gut each other, we won't interfere." Breyvus prompted, more trying to get the two to realize they had bigger problems at the moment than actually getting them to fight.

"We will place bets, though." Kuro added, unhelpfully.

Both of the nords backed down, though there was still an undercurrent of tension in the air.

Several rooms later, they ran into a problem. The Torturer's chamber. Breyvus understood the reasoning they had such things, as Kuro no doubt did, but absolutely none of the group could stand the idea of it existing. Kuro, being the almost predictably emotional individual he was, had threatened the Torturer with a "Molag Bal Special", something he was pretty sure he did not want to learn about, before trying to pick the lock to a cage holding a dead mage.

He broke every pick.

Instead, he angled his sword to pull the mage as close to him as he could, before reaching in the bars and pulling out a book. A special type of book that both Kuro and Breyvus knew about. "Oh, a spellbook." Apparently, Ralof knew about it too. At least he had something resembling a brain… maybe.

Kuro glanced at the book, then his greatsword, before tossing the book to Breyvus. Only a bit surprised at his actions, Breyvus raised his eyebrow. Kuro's response was a shrug and a quick "I have my own art to master." while gesturing with his sword. That made more sense.

Breyvus smiled slightly. "Then you'll need another." Kuro nodded, a sinister grin forming on his face, not one Breyvus was used to, but one he understood plenty.

A few rooms later, the group ran into giant spiders, which Kuro vehemently refused to even deal with. Still, the other three made quick work of them, even if Ralof had been scratched slightly.

The next room held a bear, but they sneaked by easily enough. If the thing awoke, it probably did not want to deal with four people at once. Bears were smarter than people thought, after all.

The moment they finally exited the cave, the dragon that had been burning Helgen flew overhead. Kuro seemed unconcerned, but Ralof and Hadvar hid behind a rock, probably not thinking that the Dragon did not have eyes underneath its body.

"We should meet up in Riverwood, pool information before we all head out. No doubt you two will want to inform your leaders of what happened here, but you may have missed something the other did not." Kuro said, apparently trying to reason with the two, though he noticed it sounded like he wanted to separate from them until they made it to Riverwood.

"That sounds fine. I think we could all use a rest before we head out any further from there. You know how to get there?" At Kuro's nod, Hadvar sighed. "Alright, but be careful. We likely owe our lives to you two." Ralof nodded, showing he agreed with Hadvar.

Shortly after the two left, Breyvus glanced at Kuro, who seemed to understand the unspoken question. "I need another sword, and you need to learn that spell. There is a mine between here and Riverwood, perfect for practice. Filled with Bandits. I'm not sure why… But I remember at least one of them having a greatsword. And two with bows!"

"Anything magical? I wouldn't mind a better weapon, but I'd love to explore magic more." Breyvus reasoned.

"I… can't be sure. Game wise, there sometimes is, but it's a toss up here. At the very least, there is no special magical item, if there is one. It'd be a basic one, simple enchantment probably. Still worth a try. Good practice for that spell too."

Breyvus nodded, reading his book while walking behind Kuro, trusting him to not get lost. Hopefully whatever magic item he found, it would help him resist the damned cold better.


	2. Chapter 2

The trip to the mine was quick, but gave Breyvus just enough time to read the book. Unsurprisingly, unlike the game, the book did not vanish after he was done. Naturally, he handed it off to Kuro to read afterwards, while he practiced the spell on the way.

He was unsurprised that Kuro managed it before him, but did not let that bother him. It likely had to do with Kuro's knowledge of this universe. Had it been Star Wars… Well, even so, he had little doubt Kuro would focus more on melee for now, at least. Probably learn enough magic to become immortal or continually do nonsense for the hell of it. Not that he would not do that, but still.

Despite Kuro learning faster than him at the spell, he did manage to strengthen his own considerably during the trip, enough that he could consider it a viable means of attack, if nothing else. Though, he supposed it was only natural that Kuro had a knack for magic, the same way Breyvus had a knack for melee combat. He found it slightly amusing they were going to focus on the other's specialty in this world.

"This seems… bigger than the game." Breyvus commented.

"At least ten times, possibly more. I never really timed myself traveling from place to place, but the trip to Riverwood never took five minutes for me, except when I followed Hadvar. This one seems to be taking a while." Kuro shrugged.

"He said an hour before. That would be quite a difference." Breyvus frowned. "You do realize what we are getting into, right?"

"What do you mean?" Kuro turned to face him directly, slightly confused.

"All those events from the game? They are real here. Which means they are no longer scripted, but fluid." Breyvus pointed out. He did not want Kuro to expect everything would fall into place. "And that means the people we fight will be real people, not bits of data. We will feel pain as well, and require actual survival skills. Not that it should be too big a problem for us, but its important we both know this, of course."

Kuro frowned, pausing in his movements, Breyvus following suit. "You aren't wrong. Many of the events of the game are triggered by the Dragonborn arriving, but in reality, anything could happen at any point. Which means we should focus on the most important things first."

"Speaking of, one of us is likely dragonborn." The two started moving again, hoping to reach the mine soon.

"True, might be both of us. Hard to say. Its entirely possible there is no dragonborn here, either. If thats the case we need to build an army. But we should find out for sure, first."

Breyvus agreed, but had a few more questions. "What are the most dangerous events we should deal with then? Besides the dragons, of course."

"Hm. Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild, and Companions are fine, they are not at all world-ending events, or even country level. Wolfskull cave would be a huge problem if left undealt with. Dawnguard maybe, but that is… shaky at best. The Mage's College has the Eye of Magnus, which means it definitely needs dealt with. Probably best to just kill Ancano, but make it look like an accident. Miraak requires a Dragonborn before he can really be a threat, so no worries there. Uh… Civil War, but that is more or less a country level event, probably to be dealt with after the Mage's College, Wolfskull Cave, and Dawnguard. Maybe even after the dragons." Kuro was mostly thinking outloud, but the information did alleviate Breyvus' worries.

"Alright, so what should we do first, then?"

"Become actual threats, honestly." Kuro shrugged. "Elder Scrolls is a crazy universe, and its not represented well in the games, mostly because it would probably be as hard as Dark Souls if it were. Each of those things I mentioned will require us at a certain level of power, although Dawnguard would require the most. Harkon was a bitch. It definitely requires us to act, however, so its the least pressing of the three. Wolfskull cave also requires someone to notice before we barge in there. Otherwise we might just send the necromancers somewhere less noticeable and then have to dealt with a Lich Queen and her undead army. Not that I am all too opposed to that, but people would die, and I don't know how dangerous a fully resurrected Potema would be. Probably not a Dagoth Ur situation, but still problematic."

"Sounds like it's the Mage's college then. Gives me a chance to learn more magic, but what about you?" Breyvus questioned.

"There is enough combat in that place for me to get strong enough for Dawnguard, I think. Especially with this body, hehe." Kuro chuckled in glee.

Breyvus cracked a smirk, before frowning again. "How much further until we reach that mine?"

"It should be right around this cliff. Though… do you want to do this the stealthy way, or the brutal way?" Kuro continued, "Because there is a way we can drop-assassinate the look-out, but once we get in, they will certainly know we are there, if they are at all like the game."

"Open combat would be best, then. We need the experience. Besides, I am curious how well trained the average bandit is." Breyvus commented.

"Honestly, I am too. Biggest theory I have as to why there are so many is because of a law about adventurer's findings belonging to them, allowing a lot of people to become ametuer adventurers, and thus targets for Bandits, or recruits for bandits." Kuro stopped once he saw the look-out, barely visible through the trees, much thicker than he expected they were. He glanced at Breyvus, then nodded in the direction of the bandit.

Breyvus, understanding what it meant, moved forward, out of the trees and into her sight. "Hello there."

"If you want to live, drop your valuables and leave." The bandit already had her bow drawn, ready to launch an arrow at him. Nothing he had to worry about, thankfully, but he was quite aware of her ametuerish handling of the bow. She was, at very best, a novice with the weapon.

"Oh I very much want to live, but I see you do not." She fired the arrow, which Breyvus immediately dodged, before shooting lightning at her. The moment it hit her, she screamed, dropping to the ground. Surprised, Breyvus stopped the lightning. She was still twitching, glaring at him with raw hatred.

"You could surrender and be on your way." He suggested. She was obviously unable to respond, her jaw locked shut from the tension provided through lightning, but the look in her eyes as well as the growl from her throat told him enough. He sighed, not liking this, but not being surprised either. He pulled out the sword he still had from the Keep, quickly stabbing her in the throat, severing the spine. It was a quick death.

"Like you said, they are real people. Which means their choices are their own. How many lives has she taken in her bandit clan? Their base is right by the road, after all, where many merchants travel to Falkreath and Riften from Whiterun." Kuro frowned, moving out of the cover of the trees. "It was quick. She would not have the same courtesy."

"I know." Breyvus' response was curt, but understanding. He never liked it, but everyone had their own choices to make, and if one chose death, then there was no more to it. "Let's move."

Kuro moved ahead of Breyvus, one-handing his greatsword. He was silent, but his footsteps were a clear announcement of his presence to the bandits within. So he was not taking advantage of the chance for stealth, which was unsurprising.

"Well, well, well, look what he have here, would be heroes! Lads, let's give them a welcome since Besha failed." An obviously overconfident leader shouted, three bandits behind him. They were on a bridge, so Breyvus felt no need to move forward. They would not get past Kuro, and he could provide assistance from a distance.

Kuro had a rather sinister grin on his face, clearly excited at the expected combat. "Ohoho! I see you have my second Greatsword, I'll give you a deal. Drop it, and you can live." He was probably lying, if that grin was any sign…

"Overconfident! You are outnumbered." The bandit in charge laughed, his followers echoing the sentiment.

"Only until I kill a few of you. So for a few seconds, perhaps." Okay, wow. Breyvus knew Kuro was just trying to make some kind of badass one-liner before the fight, but that was terrible.

The bandits seemed a bit bothered by the confidence shown, but they still moved. It became quite obvious none of them were used to fighting anyone with a degree of training, likely how the survived. Fighting on a bridge was the first mistake, despite the bridge being relatively wide. They also failed to surround Kuro, something that would have changed the entire fight… if Breyvus were not there to make sure anyone who tried would be fried. Even worse, none of them had shields. Kuro was strong, certainly, but he could not break through a shield, even with the massive greatsword. They could try blocking with their own weapons, but none of them had weapons designed to withstand that kind of force without hurting the wielder. But the reason Breyvus did not act was because none of the bandits moved in unison. Rather than the dangerous teamwork he had expected, they seemed to dissolve into chaos the moment they moved.

Kuro also seemed surprised, having not pressed his advantage, forcing him to block the quickest bandit with his greatsword. Despite the decent amount of power behind the sword, he was able to block it fairly easily, thanks to bracing himself well enough. The second bandit was quick to try to take advantage of the supposedly easy target, his axe raised to strike Kuro down while he was blocking the first bandit.

In response, Kuro waited until right as the second bandit struck, before pushing the one he was blocking into the swing of the axe. The axe dug into the bandit's neck, a certainly fatal wound. The second bandit was a bit slow to pull out his axe, shocked at the events, and thus missed his chance to block or dodge Kuro's slash to the neck.

Breyvus stepped forward, pouring lightning out of his hands into the third bandit, who had taken the chance to surprise attack Kuro, hidden behind the body of the now dead bandit. They were creative, if nothing else. Or lucky. Probably lucky. This bandit took a moment before he stopped breathing from the lightning, but was out of the fight almost immediately.

Kuro did not acknowledge the act, but he was probably still in that battle-craze, so that was fine. Besides, it meant he trusted him enough to get his back, if nothing else.

The apparent leader seemed irritated at the loss of his allies, but not concerned. Likely, a soldier or guard who got desperate, then. He was unsure of the situation regarding the current strife that would force Bandits out of formerly trained soldiers, let alone guards. Still, he was willing to let Kuro have his fun, this time.

The bandit already had his Greatsword out, but did not move forward yet. "What's your name, boy?"

"Honor from a bandit? Heh. I'm Kuro." The dunmer responded, now gripping his greatsword with both hands. Good, he was taking this seriously. Despite how incredible his style would be when perfected, he had a long way to go before then.

"My name is Lou Tos." Breyvus had to stop himself from laughing, and Kuro's shaking shoulders told him he was not the only one.

"Very well, just don't expect a tombstone from me."

"No, just let them know who sent you to Sovrngarde." The bandit spoke, before he moved forward. Compared to his allies, he was skilled, but nothing particularly special. More experienced than skilled, but still a threat.

Not that he would actually allow Kuro to die from this fight, but it would be enough to let Kuro be pushed so he could grow from it. Likely what Kuro had in mind himself.

Lou rushed forward with an upward strike, which was easily blocked with Kuro's greatsword, but the second strike from above was not as easy. Despite blocking in time, Kuro was straining, a surprising feat for the Bandit, Breyvus realized. It meant the bandit had more strength than skill, but also perhaps more strength than Kuro.

The two were silent as they continued the back and forth for a while, neither landing any meaningful strike, mostly pushing the other back. With a bit of boredom, Breyvus decided to watch how they fought, and see if he could teach Kuro anything from it. Not that Kuro would not learn on his own, but it was easier to see from an external source sometimes.

Lou, the bandit, seemed focused on continuing strikes, combos mostly. He was also heavily aggressive, but not very quick. He swung a bit wide, and had enough of a wind-up that Kuro would have had the opportunity to strike him then.

On the other side, Kuro's movements were more defensive than anything, something that bothered Breyvus greatly. He was reacting, rather than acting. He had little doubt Kuro would win, even with this, but this was not who Kuro was, nor how he sought to fight. Still, Kuro's strikes were quick and powerful, but he did not try to make any continual attacks, each strike being the only thing he did before going back to the defensive.

"Form Five." Breyvus spoke suddenly, Kuro's eyes widening as he realized what he was doing. Immediately, the battle changed, Kuro going on the offensive and not letting Lou have even a second of breathing room. Good, Breyvus thought, Kuro needed to keep his ideal self in mind, even with combat. A progressive warrior-hero, as he wanted to be, the kind of man who would drag the world forward in his pursuit of his goals. Granted, that was far away, particularly now, but it was important to remember one's goals and act with those goals in mind. Playing defensive would not fit with that goal.

The difference between Lou and Kuro quickly became apparent when Lou was on the defensive. Despite his skill, Lou seemed entirely focused on offense, whereas Kuro was more skilled with defense and reacting. Even so, Kuro was ferocious, and Lou did not have the stamina to keep up for long. Eventually, Kuro's blade pierced the bandit's heart, a surprising move given how Kuro had avoided stabs until then.

"Well, that's done." Kuro sighed in relief. "That was fun." He pulled out his greatsword, and grabbed Lou's as well.

"Let's move on. We need to find a bit of money at least, if we want to survive." Breyvus pointed out. They were flat broke, after all.

Kuro nodded, before bending down to reach into the deceased bandits' pockets. "A few septims, five lockpicks, and… ah! A key! Just what I was looking for." Seeing Breyvus' expectant look, Kuro explained. "Lou seemed the distrustful sort. Figured he would have his own chest of loot."

Breyvus nodded, he had been a bit caught up in the fight and gotten distracted, else he would have come to the same conclusion. "Good to know. Also the average bandit is basically a peasant with a stick. I expected more, honestly."

"Well, the more active ones will likely be more dangerous. These guys were more focused on robbing travellers than attacking anyone directly. They are also likely new, judging from the equipment and lack of skill. I imagine we might face more of a threat from the bandits that will inevitably take Helgen." Kuro shrugged, placing both greatswords on his back, crossed like some would with less lengthy swords.

"You seem awfully fine with killing, as well." Breyvus stated, curious as to the reasoning.

"In this world, the afterlife is proven real. Killing them is not as terrible as it is in our world, where it is ambiguous." Kuro explained. "Even if the afterlives that we know of are not quite paradise, they do not just stop existing. Unless they are REALLY unlucky, and usually very deserving."

"I see." He truly did. Kuro had a strange mindset in regards to life and death, so it was not beyond possibility he was entirely truthful. It was, however, likely that the killing affected him more than he was willing to show.

The two moved forward more, finally reached what looked like a treasure room, if a bit bare. The gate was locked, but the key Lou had fit perfectly. "I guess I was wrong, it was the key to the room itself. Really distrustful, then. Which means we are unlikely to find anything too valuable, as well."

"That's too bad, but maybe we will get lucky." Breyvus shrugged, not minding too much if they only found basic items.

"Lancers. Both of us." Kuro pointed out.

Breyvus paused on his way to open the chest. "Fair." It was, they both had luck bad enough to be counted as Lancers. "Let's see if that holds up." He pulled out a few items from the chest, taking note of the items in his head.

A leather helmet, another steel greatsword, an iron hatchet, a few dozen pieces of gold and…

"What." Kuro said, flatly.

"Guess my luck is better this time?" Breyvus commented, holding up a red spellbook with a fire symbol on the front. "Fireball, eh?"

"How the hell did they get a spellbook, let alone an apprentice level one?" Kuro sighed to himself, before answering his own question. "Ah, probably just a merchant willing to buy one, or a novice mage trying to learn more. Doesn't matter now, I suppose. We have time to read it, if you'd like. We have enough to sell now, at least."

"Still no bows." Breyvus thought back to the lookout, wielding a bow. "Ah, damn."

"Yeah, I just realized too… Oh well, we can probably buy them pretty cheap." Kuro shrugged. "Given, well… us, we can probably get a pretty good deal."

"Well, let's take a bit then. We need something to put all this in, anyway." Breyvus said, frowning at the realization.

"I have an idea. You good if I head back to grab some stuff from the bridge?" Kuro asked.

Breyvus nodded, sitting in the chair and beginning to read. "Be safe, I'll be fine here."

Kuro left with a wave, giving time for Breyvus to read into the new book. Idly, he wondered how they were going to handle all the world-threatening events that were no doubt already in motion, but felt confident they could handle it. Ah, it would only be better if they had a few others, but they could deal with it. Hopefully. He did not know enough about the various afterlives this world had, but he doubted he would enjoy most of them.

He figured fifteen or so minutes had passed before he finished the book, which he felt was quite a waste of effort for someone to make such a short book, despite the spell being incredibly useful. Given he was done for the moment, only needing to practice now, he decided to head back to where Kuro was, curious what was taking him so long.

Along the way, he kept trying to project the fireball, but kept falling short, only lightning shooting out. He stopped when he arrived, just to see Kuro finishing up a makeshift sack, made from the leather and fur from the dead bandits, tied together with strips. "Hey, get bored? I hope I wasn't taking too long. I'm not good with tying things, turns out."

Breyvus shook his head, his irritation at the spell dispelled for now. "No, I just wondered if you had fallen in the water or something. Good thinking, though." He began to put the items they gained so far into the makeshift sack, before commenting about his new spell. "How did you get that lightning spell so fast, by the way? Fireball is being irritating."

Kuro paused, thinking for a moment. "Conceptual Thought."

Ah, that made sense, more than it should have. "That seems a bit obvious, thinking about it." Breyvus commented, before focusing on the concept of fire, rather than the strict definition. Almost immediately, fire sprouted from his hand, only in a stream instead of a ball. "Ah. Needs work, but a good step forward, at least. Hm." He forced the magicka he was using to stall within his hand, slowly forming a ball of fire, before shooting it at the bodies, immediately burning them… and the bridge.

"Well, guess we move forward then" Kuro laughed.

"Not the first time I accidentally burned a bridge." Breyvus mused, hauling the sack onto his back as they moved forward.

Kuro frowned, but did not respond to that statement. "You should practice that Fireball in combat, next bandits we run into. There are undoubtedly more."

Breyvus nodded in acknowledgement.

Needless to say, the next bandits they ran into were very unlucky, wearing fur 'armor'. They burned rather quickly, and with no water nearby, they had no chance. The final bandit, however, was heavily armored, and noticed the burning allies.

He immediately rolled into the water source behind him, soaking his metal armor and his body. Breyvus stared at him, slowly beginning to smile. He raised his hands, before Kuro stopped him.

"Try the same thing, but with lightning." He suggested. The bandit immediately freaked out, realizing it was probably a bad idea to go into the water now, but had nowhere to go.

Breyvus' smile widened as lightning focused into his palm, forming a ball much more chaoticly and rapidly than the fire had. It only took a second for the lightning to be ready, and as he launched it, Breyvus realized he was going to enjoy magic more than he had expected.

The bandit, certainly, did not enjoy it as much. His armor seemed to weld to his skin, his eyes rolling back and his body spasming as he left the mortal world. "That was… easy."

"He was probably second in command, a step above the others, but not Lou. Besides, he was wet and wearing metal armor." Kuro paused. "Damn, I could have used that. Oh well." He shrugged it off.

"Oh I know, I just hoped for a bit of a challenge. Still, nice to know two new spells." Breyvus smiled again. "And we can get your armor later. I doubt it would fit you, anyhow." Indeed, the dead bandit was both taller and thicker than Kuro, his armor would be too loose. It was likely even too big to be refitted to be small enough.

"Well, let's gather up whatever we can find to sell, then. I'd rather be strapped with armor when we face that dragon." Kuro chuckled. "I'm likely to be the one hurting from it, after all."

"True." Despite Breyvus certainly being better at melee combat, and Kuro being better at magic, they would stick to what they wanted to learn. What kind of person only focused on their natural gifts rather than learning more, especially something as wondrous as magic and might? "But I will cover you as best I can. I have a feeling that will be enough."

The two gathered their loot, before finally leaving the mine to head to Riverwood. Thankfully, the back exit existed just as it had in the game.

Somehow, despite the ease with which they had conquered Embershard Mine, both Kuro and Breyvus felt that this was the easiest things would get.


	3. Chapter 3

They could see Riverwood in the distance now, bigger than either had expected, which was probably for the best. More people meant more goods and more money. Still, the thought of money made Breyvus consider how much certain things were worth, compared to his old world. Swords were certainly more common, as well as armor. Property was likely much less so.

"What is your intent in this world?" Breyvus asked Kuro, curious of his goals.

"Mostly? Have fun, become immortal, kill a god or two. Probably build an empire of my own, advance science and the like." Kuro shrugged.

"Ah, the usual then." Breyvus let out a chuckle. "What kind of immortality did you have in mind?"

"Lichdom."

Breyvus gained a concerned expression, glancing at Kuro. "it is different than DnD Liches?"

Kuro nodded. "Oh yeah, very much so. Mostly requires Necromantic knowledge, a powerful artifact to corrupt, and a sacrifice of sorts. Given what I know of the scum that exist in this world, I have plenty of potential sacrifices in mind. I would still be me." He explained, easing Breyvus' worries. "What about you? Fancy immortality?"

"Certainly. Though I would need to look into the methods more." He did not have the frankly absurd amount of knowledge Kuro did with this universe.

"I would suggest going straight magic. It sustained Divayth Fyr for thousands of years. Though, he was an elf to begin with, so hard to say." Kuro sighed. "While I am thinking about it, we should put in an order for some armor before we leave to the Barrow. Unlike in the game, it will take actual time for an armorer to make a set."

"Thinking about learning to become a smith?" Breyvus questioned, knowing Kuro had a rather... insatiable hunger for knowledge of all kind.

"Perhaps at some point, but I think we both have enough on our plates as is, with your magic and my martial skills... Besides learning more of the world as well."

"You don't know enough?" Breyvus asked, rather amused by the idea.

"Well, overall I do, but the smaller details don't translate very well from the game. Like culture, or social norms. Even the more basic things, such as fluid choices, will take time to get used to. Plus, I figure since this is almost certainly some kind of self-insert fanfiction, things will be different. Thankfully we will probably get away with more, as well!" Kuro laughed.

"...Self insert fanfiction? How did you come to that conclusion?"

"Well, its the two of us, in new bodies, in my favorite world, with me as my favorite race, and I have not become Jeroth yet, so I imagine there are few other ways this could happen. I mean, we both understand the multiverse theory well enough, but it makes the most sense for this to be some twisted fanfiction written out of boredom." Kuro shrugged.

Breyvus nodded, coming to a similar conclusion. "Well, if so, it is likely you that is writing it. Hopefully you don't get sadistic on yourself."

Kuro laughed even more. "Very true, and I likely won't be. I am glad I at least know that it is the case. I always found it weird how all those self-insert fanfictions seem to have the main character ignore the obvious. I mean, most people who write self-inserts read them too, and should know the genre cliches. It seems like enforced ignorance to me."

"Also very true. Well, here we are. Armorer first?" Breyvus asked, avoiding the topic of fanfiction for now. He was not... quite the fan that Kuro was.

"Fair enough. And yeah, though you should go ahead and talk to the trader, I forget his name... Then we can either split up, one of us to Whiterun, one of us to the Barrow, or we can go through the barrow together. Its up to you."

"For now, we should stick together. At least until we can get used to this different style of combat." Breyvus suggested.

"Alright." Kuro finished, walking up the small steps to the armor's area. Alvor, if he remembered correctly, was leaning over the whetting-wheel, as Kuro thought it was called, sharpening a sword.

Alvor glanced up, a smile on his slightly-dirty face. Blacksmithing was not a clean job, after all. "Hello there. We don't get many visitors to Riverwood these days, you must be the boys Hadvar was on about. He is inside if you wish to talk to him."

Kuro smiled, happy that he was not being treated terribly despite being a dunmer in Skyrim. "We will, we just needed to see if these things were worth enough to get some armor." He held up the makeshift sack, still smiling.

"Well, I don't tend to buy items, but I can use the raw materials, I suppose. The roads have been getting more dangerous, so my deliveries have been coming much less often. Show me what you have, and let's see what we can do." Alvor responded. It was nice to know trading would work at least partially, unlike their home world.

Kuro handed Breyvus the bag of gold, which meant it was time for Breyvus to visit the Trader while Kuro was busy. He was less interested in getting armor anyway, and Kuro had suggested this trader might have another spellbook.

Entering the only building with a sign above it besides what was obviously an inn, Breyvus heard two voices bickering about a claw. The first main quest, if his memory served him. That was probably another reason Kuro wanted him to visit the trader, but that was fine. "Hello there."

The two abruptly stopped, appearing sheepish at being caught arguing. "We will finish this later." The female spoke to the man behind the counter, before leaving the building.

The man sighed, before smiling at Breyvus. "What can I do for you today, sir?"

"I'm looking for spellbooks, actually. Do you have any? Or enchanted items, perhaps?" Breyvus asked, ignoring the obvious attempt to charm him. Nice to see merchants were greedy no matter the universe.

"I do, but they are rather expensive. Although..." The man paused. "Say, you look like an adventurous sort. How would you like a trade, services for items?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"A few nights ago, some bandits stole an... artifact from me. They ran off towards Bleak Falls Barrow. If you can get me that artifact back, I will gladly supply you your items. Its a small object, golden, in the shape of a dragon's claw." The merchant explained. Breyvus held back a smirk, but nodded.

"Certainly, I was on my way there anyway. My friend seems to have quite a hatred for bandits." Breyvus mused. It was probably untrue, but even so, it would serve as a reasonable excuse.

"Perfect! You come back with the claw, and I will gladly supply you and your friend." The man laughed, relieved the burden had been lifted, though there was the concern he was sending two young men to their deaths. "In the mean time, was there anything you needed to buy otherwise?"

Breyvus nodded. "Honestly, anything to help with the cold would be nice."

The merchant laughed. "New to Skyrim? Yeah, I know the feeling. You get used to it over time, but I have some thicker clothes for you."

The two began to haggle over the prices for a while, eventually coming to an agreement that left Breyvus with about half of what he had before. It had let him understand the pricing of items in this place, at least. Even better, the clothes were thick enough to protect him from the blistering cold. How Kuro was not freezing was beyond him.

As he exited the shop, Breyvus noticed Kuro leaning against the wall nearby, looking unsettlingly smug. "What did you do?"

Kuro grinned wider, before explaining. "There is usually a quest to deliver one of two letters for a love interest in town. I wanted to test the fluidity of this world, so I rewrote the letters so that they would be for each of the opposing suitors. Basically I tricked the two enemies of a love triangle into admitting their love for each other over letters. I imagine it will create quite a stir."

"Is homosexuality legal here?" Breyvus questioned, not knowing the full culture of Skyrim to a well enough extent to know whether his friend had just set two people up to death or not.

"Ingame it is, but I dont know for sure. Thats another thing I wanted to find out, how Skyrim actually views relationships. I don't recall anything about a population crisis, and I know of at least one gay-pair, but that was a weird situation, and both were dead. Nords are also private, so I doubt they would act too much if such a situation occurred."

"Ah, I see. Its a good way to judge a culture, how much they care about what other people do in their private lives." Breyvus nodded. "Speaking of, did you not mention someone who reminded you of her in this world?"

Kuro frowned, moving away from the wall. "Yes, but... That is a weird situation, ya know? I had respect for the character, in the same way I did for her, but I am also used to seeing her as just a scripted character. Well written, sure, but still scripted. Even if I were to pursue such a thing, that would be much, much later. It would feel weird. Anyway, I'm guessing Lucan gave you the quest for the Golden Claw? Did you want to stick together for that, or separate?"

"You have an order for armor, yes?"

"Well, I will after telling the Jarl of the dragon, but yeah." Kuro shrugged. "I don't mind waiting for that, though."

"It'll be fine. I will use my old skills if I have to. This way we will both be back around the same time, and can pick up our items." Breyvus explained.

"Alright, just... be safe. I don't know how things have changed, and fanfiction or not, I don't want a friend to die." Kuro frowned, before chuckling. "Oh god, am I the mom friend?"

"You dragged me into an adventure involving dragons, magic, and a civil war. I think that automatically disqualifies you from being the mom friend." Breyvus pointed out. "But you be safe too, I will see you when we get back."

Thus, the two began their separate journies, one much harder than the other, for obvious reasons.


End file.
